Jurassic Park: Prelude to Chaos
by Jonathan Covington
Summary: The story of those left behind on Isla Sorna the day after the events of Jurassic Park.


Episode I- The Call ----------------------------------- Isla Sorna Main compound June 12, 1993 (one day after the events of Jurassic Park) DAY 1 -7:48 a.m. -----------------------------------  
  
Most nights I wish that I actually had some work to do that day. I had no business being there at that moment. I was supposed to only drop off my shipment, sign the papers, and leave on the helicopter. But instead, I thought of some reason to do my job quickly, too quickly in fact that I had five minutes to spare before the chopper was ready. So I decided to fish thought my pocket and pull out a few quarters and see what these scientists had loaded in their vending machines.  
  
I came out off the main hallway and passed the front desk, which I happened to notice was empty. That secretary that had done the paperwork with me had left on break, probably to go look in the door that said "Nursery" on it, which I've heard her doing a lot. A nursery in this place? What did the scientists decide to bring their kids along as they figured out life's mysteries? And what mysteries were they working on? I had no clue what this whole entire island was for. On the front gate of the compound, and on a sign nearby, it had said "InGen Corporation, Site B, Isla Sorna" which made no sense to me. Some big-bucks genetics company decided to reside here for what? Location? To make this island their little resort during their free time?  
  
I didn't know then but I know now what it was all for, and I have the scars to prove it. So there I was, standing infront of three vending machines making my selection when I heard a phone call. It was that annoying tone that you would here in doctors' offices and the like. That kind where you would expect hearing some blonde answer in a New York accent. It kept ringing and ringing, digging and digging into my nerves. I couldn't think about candy bars anymore. All I wanted was the ringing to stop. So I put away my change and stormed back into the lobby. There I saw the phone's light flashing and the tone was getting louder. Nobody must have heard it or it would have been answered by now. And the person on the other end must had been persistent to wait this long for someone to answer. Thinking it must be an important call, I took the liberty to go over and pick up the receiver.  
  
"Hello, Site B main desk."  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
I was a little bit caught offguard by the sudden question, but I continued. "This is Derek Henderson, a--"  
  
"Look, son. (I didn't like him calling me 'son') Give the phone to the secretary or one of the staff around you."  
  
I looked around, already knowing that there was nobody around right now. I tried not to show my dislike of this guy right off the bat. "Just let me take a message and I be sure to get it to the right person."  
  
"It's not for just one person. It's for everyone on Isla Sorna. Is someone there of any importance--"  
  
"You're speaking to one." The man fell silent for a minute. Needless to say, I was a little perturbed. Just as I was about to say another cocky comment to this guy, the secretary came into the lobby with a weird look on her face.  
  
"Sir, only staff may answ--"  
  
"Look," I interrupted, for I was instantly not in a good mood. "I just did you a favor and did this guy a favor also by putting him in his place. Now he says he has something important--" I then heard the guy yelling over the earpiece and took a moment to yell, "Shut up! I'm telling her!" before continuing, "--that he feels needs to be shared." I then held the phone over to her and smiled as nice as I could possibly be then.  
  
Without speaking and still giving the weird look, she took the phone from me and I then leaned on the side of the front desk, listening to her conversation. I soon thought it'd be best, and I know now that it would have been, if I go back to the vending machines to finish my selection. But then...  
  
"What?!" the woman exclaimed. A sudden look of confusion and half-fear took her over. "Evacuate?? Now?! But why?...... They broke out? Oh my go.... No, no...... Are they all right?..... But.... But wait a.... I'll go tell Mr. Pierce!" She then set the phone down on the side and ran off behind a black door. A few minutes later, she returned even more confused and picked the phone back up. "I can't find him! He went off to the river some hour ago.... I can't go!.... But I.... Who?.... Him?... He's right here..."  
  
And instantly I knew she was talking about me. I should have ran at that point. But the distraught look of this poor young woman got the best of me. I then asked, "What's going on?"  
  
She said into the phone, "Hold on just a minute." and then looked at me. "I need you to go out and find Dr. Pierce! He left in a gas jeep not too long ago and should be near the river. Here!" she reached below the desk and I could hear the sound of keys rustling. She then pulled up a set of keys and tossed it to me. "This is the keys to the jeep just outside. Please go and get him quickly!" She then stopped as another man stepped into the room from the black door.  
  
"Give me the phone." he said and pulled the receiver from her before she could respond. He then entered a long conversation that I couldn't here with the anonymous man. All I could get out of it was that the guy was named Ludlow. What a ignorant prick! I thought and stepped outside.  
  
Just as she said there was a Jeep sitting right outside the door. I hadn't noticed it when I came in, but I jumped in from the side and stuck the car key into the ignition and cranked it on. The motor came on beautifully and two seconds later I was speeding out of the compound gate. I noticed that sitting next to me was a bottle of water, unopened. So I took it and opened it. There I was, speeding down a jungle road with one hand on the wheel and another hand squirting water into my mouth. The humidity here was killing me!  
  
As I came around a bend I noticed that the road split in half with one going along a ridge and one going down into the valley of the island. I saw that the one going down ended near the trees so I took the high road. About ten or fifteen minutes later, after swerving through the zig-zaggy road, I came out onto a grassy meadow. Off in the distance I saw and heard water running so I through the Jeep in overdrive and curved off of the road. I then turned and ran myself parallel with the river. I sped over bumps and eventually saw the other Jeep across the river up ahead. I then swerved over and crossed at a shallow part, spraying water everywhere. I pulled up next to the other jeep and noticed that it was empty. Standing up in the Jeep and looking out around me, I yelled out as loud as I could, "Dr. Pierce!!!"  
  
A couple meters in front of me, in the middle of some tall grass, a hand waved a hat back and forth. Along with it, I heard a loud whisper, "Shut up!" A little more perturbed than I was, I hopped out of my vehicle and walked over there. "Get down!" the voice called, so I crouched down till my head was half way over the grass. Up ahead, a man--Dr. Pierce--was crouched low and silent. In his hands he held a large rifle that he aimed over at the trees nearby. I started to speak but he shushed me and slowly said, "Quiet, she's coming." Who was he talking about? The secretary?? Did he purposely try to escape this woman by driving out here? And knowing she'd try to find him, he came prepared? These scientists were weird people.  
  
But then I was silenced. For I had placed the water bottle I had with me on the ground before me, and I noticed something strange. The bottle was half-full (or half-empty for all you pessimists), but that wasn't the strange thing. Every five seconds or so, the surface of the water would ripple. Ripple. Ripple. Synchronized with that was a low thumping noise that shook the ground. A flock of birds suddenly flew out of the trees and Pierce cocked the rifle and aimed. I then looked, and the other half of the water nearly came out in my pants. "Oh... my....God!"  
  
Episode II- Rude Awakening ----------------------------------- Isla Sorna River June 12, 1993 DAY 1 -8:13 a.m. -----------------------------------  
  
As Dr. Pierce sat there with his rifle aimed and I there about wetting my pants, the trees began to shake and low and behold, a large animal came bursting out of the foliage. I about screamed then. The thing stood on two monstrous feet, had two short little arms and a large square-shaped head. My mind ran quickly through names of animals that I knew and could not come up with what it was, until... the full body came out and then I instantly knew what I was seeing.  
  
A dinosaur. Tyrannosaurus rex, to be exact. A damn dinosaur!  
  
The tyrannosaur must have been not quite an adult, because it looked smaller than most t-rex skeletons I had seen in museums. The dino growled softly and walked over near the jeeps, as Pierce followed it with the rifle. It hadn't noticed us yet, and I thank that to God. But yet he was cutting off any possible escape to the vehicles.  
  
"Shoot it." I simply said. I tried to speak as softly and quietly as I could. Pierce didn't respond so I poked him on the shoulder. "What are you doing?"  
  
Pierce obviously dismissed my question. He kept his eye on the rex and said to me, "Isn't it astounding? I bet this is the first time you've seen one of these." What was this man talking about? He spoke as if he seen these every day here. That couldn't possibly be. Dinosaurs alive and well on the earth still. I thought they all kicked the bucket when the massive rock hit Mexico some millions of years ago. Yet this one was standing tall over the jeeps and sniffing them like a dog. Suddenly, I became overwhelmed in fear. The back of my throat was beginning to itch, I felt a cough coming. Pierce looked over and could see it in my eyes. "Don't do it, mate." I pushed two fingers against my throat and tried to swallow it away. But something went down the wrong tube and I half-coughed and hacked.  
  
The rex's head came up abruptly. It had heard me, and began turning it's monstrous head around in our direction. Without warning, the animal roared peculiarly, as if something was causing him pain. I then saw it, behind his left arm: a small red dart. Someone shot it. Over in the distance, I could see two men getting up and running down the river away from the rex. The tyrannosaur soon turned back and stomped after them quickly. Pierce swore and raised up out of the grass and took aim. He fired yet the rex didn't stop nor seem to react to the shot.  
  
"Bloody damn!" Pierce swore again and fished out a box from the grass beside him. Inside was two more darts, apparently loaded with some sort of sedative or toxin. I couldn't tell. Ahead down the stream, I could hear terrifying screams and shrieks followed by a brief moment of silence. Then I heard the deafening roar.  
  
Pierce abandoned fussing with the box and sprinted over to the vehicle. Not having a clue of what to do, I found myself sprinting after him. I just about made my way into the passenger seat when I saw the tyrannosaur reemerge from the trees where it had last been seen chasing those men. It took one look at us, lowered its head and roared again and charged. Pierce through the jeep in full overdrive and spun out. Two seconds later, the wheels finally got friction and we were on our way, the tyrannosaur close behind us. I kept looking from the front to the back, watching the dinosaur. When I again looked ahead, I noticed we're heading to a small road that disappeared into the jungle.  
  
Soon we were encompassed with trees and jungle fronds that slapped us as we sped past. The rex was still close behind, I could still feel the impacts of its large feet. I again heard the roar and was surprised to see the rex burst around the corner and rapidly gain on us.  
  
"S***! DRIVE FASTER!!!" I yelled.  
  
Pierce apparently heard me and cranked down on the accelerator. Soon, the pursuing rex was far behind and had given up. By that time I was out of breath while Pierce kept driving fast. I looked over at him and said, "Man, I think it's gone." and leaned back in my seat. He, on the other hand, still kept driving as fast as he could while looking over to the right.  
  
We had driven up and out of the jungle and had curved up onto a ridge road. It looked as if we were going south, because we were following the river's direction far below. On our left side was a steep muddy hill while on our right, just five feet up, was some more jungle elevated on a small cliff. I looked over and noticed that we were on the complete opposite side of the island, Great! I thought. I had missed the chopper probably and would have to wait before I catch the next one.  
  
Pierce next to me slowly turned his facial expression and with one hand, reached pack and pulled something from the back of the jeep. He placed it in my lap and I noticed that it was some model of a rifle. "Get ready," he then said and pointed for me to look forward. He then glanced over and up at the jungle above us on the ridge.  
  
"What? What do I need this f--" I was suddenly cut off by the thundering impact tremor in front of us as a different tyrannosaur suddenly leaped from the ridge above to the road before us. It turned its head and then bellowed a deafening roar. I tried to cover my ears but Pierce hit me and yelled, "Shoot him!!" I then quickly took aim and fired, yet my aim was poor. It only shot dust up from the ground below the rex's belly, yet the dino didn't seem to care as it then charged forward at us.  
  
"Christ!!" Pierce yelled and swerved off of the road, down the steep muddy hill. He spun the wheel back and forth but had no control of the car. Down below, I saw a fallen log and knew that we were going to hit it. So I jumped up and out of the car just as it collided with the tree. Pierce did the same and we both sailed over the log and tumbled into the mud below. I then looked up at the horror.  
  
The rex had watched our folly with great interest and then decided to follow us down. It stepped one large foot down onto the slippery slope, which began to give way. And soon, this large carnivore was sliding down on its feet towards us, jaws open. We both yelled (Pierce and I) and started to run down the rest of the slope as fast as we could. I slid and fell face first into the dirt, staggered in getting up and resulted in just jumping and sliding the rest of the way. In front of me, Pierce had somehow disappeared farther down and my fear shot up. I was alone with a large predator chasing me, wanting to eat me.  
  
As I then slid over a small ledge in the hill, I was surprised when I felt a hand reach out and pull me under it. I was glad to see that it was Pierce and even more glad to notice that we were in a small cave dug into the hillside. "Why didn't you shoot it?!!!" Pierce yelled at me. "Don't you know how to use a gun??"  
  
"I'm a friggin' FedEx worker!!!" I yelled right back. We continued arguing until we both heard a strange sound. It sounded like if you took your hand and scratched it down a chalkboard mixed with the sound of metal scraping. Then I noticed the sound's origin too late. The opening of the cave was suddenly eclipsed by the smashed form of the jeep, upside-down. The rex had thrown the car! We then braced ourselves as the whole cave shook as the rex stepped over top of us. The car slipped down the hill slightly but it was still in view until....  
  
The large foot smashed the ground between us and it. The rex roared again and we heard the scraping sound again. But this time, once the foot had stepped to the side, we no longer saw the jeep. I began to notice that the shape of the rex was changing, it was turning around. It knew where we were and was determined to get us. It stuck its large head into the mouth of the cave and opened its mouth. Pierce and I ran quickly to the back in fear. The rex continued to try and wedge its massive head into the cave but failed. Once we had turned around a corner, I began to hear its sound fading and the impact tremors coming and fading. It was leaving.  
  
I then began to take notice into what the cave looked like. This was no ordinary cave, I mean, no natural one. This was obviously man-made. It had boxes and shelves lining this second hallway, while nothing was in the first (the mouth of the cave). Pierce began to explain to me, "This is one of the emergency bunkers we had built around the island. In case of such an event as today, we would have a place of shelter to hide in. Plus we use them as little bases for our experiments instead of driving all the way back to the complex."  
  
"Are they connected somehow with the compound?" I asked hopefully. If there was anything: a phone, a radio, or a tunnel, we could probably get back quickly or have ourselves rescued in time that I could get off this wretched island.  
  
"There should be a phonebox somewhere nearby," Pierce said. We then spent the next half an hour looking for the damn phonebox. Finally, Pierce pushed over a crate and said, "Aha!" I then quit fussing with the pile I was working on and stepped over. It was a speaker phone. Almost looking small enough to be an intercom. Pierce pushed a few buttons.  
  
"Who are you calling?" I asked.  
  
"Front desk. They should be able to help us." When I heard that, inwardly I laughed. The secretary was off doing who-knows-what and I had to answer the damn phone. But now I'm out here and I was the one calling. But the answer surprised me.  
  
"This is Dr. Patrick Jenkins, Site B facility director." I noticed that this was the guy I saw earlier who took the phone away from the secretary. Also, Pierce tried to talk into the speaker, yet the guy didn't react nor even seem to notice it.  
  
It was a stupid recording!  
  
"We have at the moment evacuated our facilities here on Isla Sorna. Over on Site A, the park, there has been a terrible accident due to a storm. Right now, the storm is heading directly our way. System trouble at the park also accounted for the accident. So we are taking no chances and are evacuating immediately. If you happen to be on the island yourself and are trying to seek help, phone the rescue chopper on its radio frequency marked in your manuals located in the compartment of all vehicles. Good luck to all of you." Both Pierce and I looked at each other, the jeep was destroyed! There was no way either of us were going out there to try and get it, with the rex probably still nearby.  
  
So we had no choice. "I guess we have to lay low in here until we figure out what we're gonna do." I said. Pierce agreed and we started to go through what we had to deal with. Turns out, two hours later, that we had enough food to last us two weeks if we rationed correctly, a few weapons, four small radios (that only communicated with each other, which we figured out after an hour of trying), and a small computer. "You guys sure know what to stock up for emergencies."  
  
"Of course." Pierce said as he sat down at the terminal. He pushed the start button, yet no power came on. "They must have turned off the geo- thermal power generator before they left." He said, and he then started to go farther back into the cave and later I heard metal clanking noises.  
  
"What're you doing?" I asked.  
  
"Fussing with the damn backup power grid... OUCH!" and I heard something metal clatter on the floor. As a reflex, I reached over and pulled one of the small rifles off the shelf and peered into the darkness. Suddenly, lights came on in the low ceiling and I then saw Pierce in the back, sucking on his finger. "I caught it in the thing when I twisted the thing on! Youch!" He grasped his hand and stomped his foot in agony. He soon wore it off and then resumed to his seat at the computer and pushed it on.  
  
The screen remained black but a small rectangular box appeared that read, "InGen, Site B Network Services"  
  
We were into the system, but I couldn't tell what system we were in. Soon, rows and rows of icons appeared and I knew that we were looking at some sort of graphic interface (I knew because I had done a lot of computer work at the office, yet never understood the things well). Each icon had a little image on it, but I didn't know what they were for. Pierce must have known because he was clicking away through the system.  
  
He clicked the top left box, which then transferred into what appeared to be the important stuff. It had again twelve icons in three rows. This time it had icons that appeared to be things that meant "Profiles, Staff, Schedule, Email".... Email! I said, "Send out an email for help!"  
  
But Pierce shook his head and said, "That won't help. Because the main generator is off, we can't communicate with the outside world, we're limited to the island network alone. The only person who could see it is someone else who's stuck on the island and that is using a bunker terminal." My heart sank. I was stranded on an island where my life was considered a rare delicacy. I wanted to go home.  
  
"Well let's see at least what we can find," Pierce said and he exited out to the first screen. He then clicked on an icon that lead to a screen with small video camera images in each box. Then, each little icon transformed into living feeds from cameras that must have been set up all over the island. Pierce clicked on a small box that showed a small video of the buildings. The box expanded and eclipsed most of the icons showing its content. The compound was empty. Nothing and nobody were seen anywhere. Pierce returned and chose another video. This was set high on a ridge and overlooked the river valley we had been in previously. We saw that the first jeep (my jeep) had been overturned into the river. It wasn't moving downstream though, for it appeared to be smashed into the river bed. Pierce clicked back and to another camera also set up on the ridge. But this one was different: it faced out from the island, looking at a convoy of boats and helicopters leaving hastily.  
  
We were stranded. Stranded on Isla Sorna with nobody to help us. Just then, we heard a faint tyrannosaur roar over the computer's speaker.  
  
Episode III- Survival ----------------------------------- Isla Sorna Bunker June 14, 1993 DAY 3 -3:48 p.m. -----------------------------------  
  
It had been two days since we were first stranded. Dr. Anthony Pierce and I had dared not to venture out into the open yet. He and I began to divide up the space for our "living quarters". By and by, we also conversed on issues related to the island or not. We had a heated argument over NFL teams (him liking the Chargers and I the Buccs). But later that afternoon, I finally asked the question that had been eating me from the start, and I don't use that pun lightly.  
  
"Tell me, what's going on? What is this whole place?" I asked. Pierce sort of looked over my shoulder then into my eyes.  
  
"You don't know? Oh, well... A few years ago, this rich entrepreneur named John Hammond established the company in Palo Alto, California. He mostly focused the company's assets on acquiring most of the amber in the world--"  
  
I butted in, "What's amber?"  
  
"Hardened tree sap. Over time, the sap solidifies and becomes this glowing yellow piece of rock. Now sometimes, something will get trapped in the amber, such as flies, small frogs, and even mosquitoes. That's where we get the dinosaur DNA from."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well, we first drill into the amber carefully, then take a syringe and extract whatever is in the stomach of the insect and see what we've got."  
  
"But isn't that a long process. I mean, I don't know that much about genetics and science, but how are you sure the mosquito has dinosaur DNA from sixty-some million years ago and not some mouse DNA in it from two hundred years ago?"  
  
"A lot of trial and error. But we lucked out and recovered many different genomes, er.. DNA codes that turned out to be dinosaurs when we injected them into eggs and hatched them. Over time, we then took the DNA from the successful hatchlings and began to make more from them. But later on in the process, we noticed a glitch in the genetic code, or the animal was behaving profoundly, so we went back and modified the DNA slightly and hatched some more. Each batch we gave a different version, see?" He pointed to a chart on the screen he was working on at the computer. It listed many species of dinosaurs:  
  
Species Version Tyrannosaurs 4.1 Maiasaurs 3.3 Stegosaurs 3.9 Triceratops 3.1 Procompsognathids 3.9 Othnelia 3.1 Velociraptors 3.0 Apatosaurs 3.1 Hadrosaurs 3.1 Dilophosaurs 4.3 Pterosaurs 4.3 Gallimimus 4.0 Hypsilophodontids 2.9 Euoplocephalids 4.0 Styracosaurs 3.9 Microceratops 4.1  
  
"Wow," I said. That was a lot of dinosaurs for this company to have recovered from amber. "But why? What for?"  
  
"Simple. To make money. John Hammond was focused more on making these dinosaurs realistic so they could be presented to the admiring public on a nearby island, Isla Nublar to be exact. They named it Jurassic Park."  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"What you're on is Site B. This is where we get our hands dirty trying to perfect the dinosaurs genes. The factory floor. Lately, we've been witnessing a lot of dinosaur defects in the genes."  
  
"Defects? What do you mean?"  
  
"Lately, we've been observing over-aggressiveness. We were trying to tag down the female rex just about the time you showed up." I felt stupid at that time. "We were to fire at the same time, on my mark. Steven and Joe were my two assistants, it's really too bad about their demise. That rex proved to be too aggressive."  
  
"It looked too hungry to me."  
  
"It wasn't. It was actually quite full. We've watched the behavior of that rex for some time and we notice that it fed on a stego or a trike and filled up on that. What it did was attack and kill two of our men without needing to."  
  
"Have you figured out the problem yet?" I asked. I was really getting into this stuff.  
  
"No and we probably never will. If everyone has evacuated, it must be for some very important reason and most likely they won't be coming back. That reminds me, we have to get a copy of that manual to be able to call out for rescue."  
  
"How will we do that? We don't have a radio and if we did, we could just send S.O.S. on each frequency."  
  
"That will take too long. We don't have enough time to do that. We might not even last that long. We need to find that manual."  
  
"Well, who's going?"  
  
"You are. I have to stay here and direct you by radio headset. I can cover you by scanning the area around you in case of danger. You'll have to take one of those M-16s over there and find the jeep the rex tossed. It should have a manual in it." While he was explaining what I was to do, I tried to squeeze a word in edgewise in protest. I didn't want to go out there at all. But finally I agreed and we began to prepare to exit the bunker. Looking at the rifle I was to use, that rex had better not cross MY path.  
  
Episode IV- Venturing Out ----------------------------------- Isla Sorna Bunker June 16, 1993 DAY 5 -1:29 p.m. -----------------------------------  
  
After loading and readying my weapon, I peered out of the small hole that was our new and quite homely front door. We had been preparing over the last few days for this and we would not like it if I was to eaten right when I came out, I felt that way especially. We had ran constant drills on what could possibly happen out there (to our knowledge, that is). The plan was this: I was to have a radio clipped onto my belt and have a headset on connected to that. Back at the bunker, Dr. Pierce was to monitor the various cameras and be my lookout. He would also, over the headset, guide me where to go and what to do. Even as ludicrous as this whole situation seemed, I agreed to those conditions and awaited for a good time to act.  
  
It came to that day, almost a week after the evacuation had taken place, when we noticed that they weren't sending anyone back to retrieve unaccounted for persons. So we decided to get help on our own. I was to quickly race around through the nearby jungle, searching for that jeep the rex had overturned and thrown about like a cheap rag doll. Once I had found it, I was supposed to somehow retrieve the manual from the glove compartment. How I was ever to accomplish this was beyond me. After all, I was a friggin' FedEx worker.  
  
After carefully scanning the area around me several times, I decided to step out onto the side of the hill. Since Day 1 (we were numbering our days on the island now), the muddy hill had hardened and cracked, presenting some amount of traction. I lifted the barrel of my weapon out and again scanned my surroundings. Once I finally decided it was clear, I slowly made my way down the slope. It was just past noon (I could tell by the position of the sun and shadows) and the humidity was intense. It had felt, once I had stepped out from the bunker, as if someone threw a hot wet towel in my face. The temporary shock hit me so hard I had a harder time breathing, but once I got the hang of it, it actually was good fresh air. After all my years of smoking, this island was probably my rehab.  
  
I finally made it down to the base of the hill and began to enter the forest. I reached over to my side and flipped the switch on the radio. Inside the headset, I could hear the light fuzz of the open channel between me and Pierce.  
  
"Derek, are you alright?" I heard him say. I tapped the microphone near my mouth to confirm him. I didn't want to risk talking out loud for fear of what might be nearby that could hear me. "Hold on just a minute," Pierce continued. "I'm trying to find you on the cameras... No.... Oh there you are. Let's see, I'm plugging your signal into the island tracking network. I will be able to see a window of you while also view the island map with the dinosaurs tagged on it." I again tapped confirmation.  
  
"Now, continue straight forward for some time. That path is clear, but be careful and quiet." Again, tap. I stepped over a fallen branch and lifted my weapon till it stuck out sideways from my chest area. My head cocked back and forth, looking in various directions where I had heard any small noise.  
  
After a while, I began to see the grassy field and the river through the treeline. "Stop!" My foot paused in mid-air in between steps. I scanned around quickly for any sign of danger. "Just had to switch cameras, you were out of range of the first one." I tapped an acknowledgment and continued. I decided to keep it low and did a crouched walk, where my knees were bent and I stepped side to side, trying to stay somewhat concealed underneath the tall grass.  
  
Suddenly I heard the tyrannosaur roar and I aimed my weapon in each possible direction. In my ear I heard, "Don't worry. The rex is far on the other side of the island. Go ahead and approach the jeep in the river. I'm still searching through cams to find the other jeep." I acknowledged and started to high-tail it over to the river. I entered the river, holding the radio out of the water, and even though it was shallow and came up to my knees, I lowered my whole body into it to try and reduce my exposure. Half swimming and half crawling my other hand along the river bottom, I made my way over to what was left of the jeep. It was upside- down, with the bottom of the car dented inwards as did the other jeep. The rex must have flipped it and then stomped on it with his big foot. Gasoline and oil was leaking out and into the river.  
  
I knew I was going to half to duck underneath the water and search the underside. And having to do that, I also knew I was going to have to remove my radio so it wouldn't short in the water. So I finally got myself into depriving myself of my link to Pierce and placed the radio on the "top" of the car. Ducking underneath, I could barely see in the river water. I did however make out the features of the jeeps inside. I opened what was the door and pulled myself farther inside. Thank God there was a small air pocket near the brake and accelerator. I went up for a small breath and ducked back underneath and began to search the car. To my misfortune, the glove compartment was already opened and was bare. There was nothing here of use.  
  
I came back up outside the car and picked up the radio. Standing up, I placed the radio back on my belt and pulled up the headset by the wire. Once I put it on, I heard, "--ide Derek, they're coming right towards you!" I picked up my rifle and noticed some shadows and forms moving upstream. "Hide Derek!"  
  
EPISODE V- The Herd... 


End file.
